Historic First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi, USA (founded 1837) is the largest Presbyterian congregation in the State and one of the largest in the United States. A flagship congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), First Church played a significant role in establishing the PCA (the largest conservative Presbyterian denomination in the English-speaking world), Reformed Theological Seminary, and Reformed University Ministries (a nationwide campus fellowship).

British Doctors have changed their minds on euthanasia. Last year the British Medical Association (BMA) narrowly voted a "neutral" position on "helping patients to die." Voting again this week (in Belfast) that decision was overturned as 65% voted against assisted dying. The issue was raised by a proposed Bill in the House of Lords. Interestingly, they noted that improvements in palliative care meant that even the most stricken of patients could be helped effectively through their final days. Some expressed the very real concern that a "right to die" could become "a duty to die" to either relieve relatives of the burden of care. The financial issues were also raised: maintaining the status of "inheritances" otherwise spent on care, or, after that has disappeared, saving the tax-payer money would become a matter of tension, some argued.

Opposition to euthanasia is based on the commandment, "You shall not murder" and is articulated this way:

the belief that the intensional taking of a life which poses no threat to the individual or community is a form of murder

that it conflicts with the prime directive of the medical profession

that financial gain is inevitably bound up and would lead to the systematic removal of the elderly by family members

that this provides the state with excessive powers of control

Fundamentally, Christians oppose euthanasia because it simply does not fit with core Christian theological convictions. God is Creator, not us (Gen. 1:1). Human life is in his hands (Job 1:21). Illness and death are a tragic part of life in a sin-sick world (Gen. 3:19), and we must fight them hard as Jesus fought them hard (Mt. 4:24). The time will come when every person's earthly life is over. At that point, our only hope lies in the resurrection promised to those who belong to Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:50-56).

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends.”

Jesus Christ (John 15:15)

“The little knot of Friends who turn their backs on the ‘World’ are those who really transform it.”

“In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. . . . Hence true Friendship is the least jealous of loves. Two friends delight to be joined by a third, and three by a fourth."

C.S. Lewis

“Impersonal words begin to dominate our conversation—dysfunctional, resource, consumer, problem, victim, client, asset, liability, loser, winner. The minute we start using these words to describe other people, we mount an assault on the possibilities, if not the actualities, of friendship.”

Eugene Peterson

“So my plan is spoilt! . . . It is no good trying to escape you. But I’m glad, Sam. I cannot tell you how glad.”

Frodo Baggins

"A queer and almost mad notion seems to have got into the modern head that, if you mix up everybody and everything more or less anyhow, the mixture may be called unity, and the unity may be called peace. It is supposed that, if you break down all doors and walls so that there is no domesticity, there will then be nothing but friendship. Surely somebody must have noticed by this time that the men living in a hotel quarrel at least as often as the men living in a street."

G.K. Chesterton

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”

“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.”

“A friend is one before whom I may think aloud.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“When a friend calls to me from the roadAnd slows his horse to a meaning walk,I don't stand still and look aroundOn all the hills I haven't hoed,And shout from where I am, What is it?No, not as there is a time to talk.I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,Blade-end up and five feet tall,And plod: I go up to the stone wallFor a friendly visit.”

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

It's Tuesday again! That means "Derek, you are meant to blog on the FPC page"! And so far, I have spent three hours dealing with e-mail! Mostly other hats I wear (RTS, refomration21). Questions to answer, requests to speak, articles to write, meetings to attend. It never ends. Some were for 2009! Am I guilty of presumption if I try and answer these for 2009? Do I need to try and sound really spiritual and add deo volente (DV) to these?

Time! The world is obsessed with it. We wear watches to remind us of the exact time. What did Paul do? Jesus didn't wear one! They had time-pieces, of course, usually in city squares that followed shadows cast by the sun. What did they do on cloudy days? They wouldn't have worked too well in Britain which is overcast on most days.

Last Thursday, the Oxford Dictionary gurus announced that "time" is the most often used noun in the English language! The word "the" is the most commonly used word overall followed by "be,""to," and, "a," "in," "that," "have," and "I," according to the "Cincise Oxford English Dictionary."

On the top list of 25 nouns, "time" is followed by "year," (3rd), "day," (5th) and "week," (17th). "Person" comes in second and "man" at No. 7 and "woman" at No. 14.

It all goes to show that we are obessed with time. That sage, Wil Rogers, was correct when he suggested that half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we've rushed through life trying to save!

For everything there is a season,And a time for every matter under heaven:A time to be born, and a time to die;A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;A time to kill, and a time to heal;A time to break down, and a time to build up;A time to weep, and a time to laugh;A time to mourn, and a time to dance;A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;A time to seek, and a time to lose;A time to keep, and a time to throw away;A time to tear, and a time to sew;A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;A time to love, and a time to hate;A time for war, and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
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Monday, June 26, 2006

Our love for each other should be "an imitation of the eternal love and grace of God, and of the dying love of Christ, which . . . was sung by the angels at his birth."

Jonathan Edwards

"Love is patient, love is kind" (1 Corinthians 13:4a, NASB)

From Lecture Five: "Charity Disposes Us To Do Good."

The main thing in that love which is the sum of the Christian spirit, is benevolence, or goodwill to others. — We have already seen what Christian love is, and how it is variously denominated according to its various objects and exercises, and, particularly, how, as it respects the good enjoyed or to be enjoyed by the beloved object, it is called the love of benevolence, and as it respects the good to be enjoyed in the beloved object, it is called the love of complacence. Love of benevolence is that disposition which leads us to have a desire for, or delight in, the good of another. That is the main thing in Christian love, yea, the most essential thing in it, and that whereby our love is most of an imitation of the eternal love and grace of God, and of the dying love of Christ, which consists in benevolence or goodwill to men, as was sung by the angels at his birth (Luke 2:14). So that the main thing in Christian love is goodwill, or a spirit to delight in and seek the good of those who are the objects of that love.

Overture 2, from Rocky Mountain Presbytery requesting a study committee on Federal Vision, was answered in the affirmative. The Bills and Overture Committee had recommended that the overture for a study committee be answered in the negative. A minority of the committee presented a substitute urging that the overture be answered in the affirmative. After extensive debate the minority report was adopted. The final motion calls for the moderator to appoint a committee of seven who are to report to the 35th General Assembly. (Note: Overtures 11 and 23 also dealt with Federal Vision and were answered in the negative. Overture 26, from Missouri Presbytery, requested General Assembly to consider and recommend its Report on Federal Vision Theology. The overture was answered in the negative without prejudice in that the Report will be printed in the GA Minutes, by which it will be made generally available to the Church.)

Overture 9, from Rocky Mountain Presbytery asking for an appendix to the Book of Church Order on procedures for calling a pastor, was answered in the negative. This overture urged that the usual procedures for calling a pastor should include informing the Session of any pastor being considered by another church. While this overture would have been only a suggested action, commissioners indicated it was not a direction they desired to go.

Overture 15, from James River Presbytery asking for an amendment to the Book of Church Order requiring term limits for members of the Standing Judicial Commission (SJC), was as answered in the affirmative. At present, unlike other GA committees, SJC members can be re-elected to unlimited successive terms. Amendments to the BCO require approval of the General Assembly, two-thirds of the Presbyteries, and then a majority of the following GA.

Overture 25, from Missouri Presbytery asking the General Assembly to address justice and peace concerning U.S. – Iran relations, was found "out of order" in that "the circumstances and matters asserted by the overture fail to demonstrate that this is a case extraordinary as required by Westminster Confession of Faith 31-4."

Two New Presbyteries ApprovedThe PCA General Assembly approved establishing two new Presbyteries out of one of the larger ones. North Georgia Presbytery asked the General Assembly to divide it into North Georgia, Northwest Georgia and Georgia Foothills. When these new Presbyteries are formally organized there will be 75 PCA Presbyteries.

34th GA Adjourned, 35th GA AnnouncedThe 34th General Assembly was adjourned on Friday, June 23, around 10:15 a.m. The moderator announced that the 35th General Assembly will meet in Memphis, Tenn., on June 15-18, 2007.
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Anne, the children and I are in South Carolina on vacation. We worshipped at First Presbyterian, Columbia (ARP) this morning. Sinclair Ferguson's message was marvelous. You must listen to it online.

Jim Moore will give you a quick review of this year's PCA GA tonight at the PM. Dominic Aquila reports this from the PCA GA -

34th PCA General Assembly Update

More than 1,400 PCA commissioners gathered at the Atlanta Hyatt Regency for the denomination’s 34th General Assembly, June 20-23, 2006. Here is a summary of some of its actions:

Strategic Planning Committee ReportOne of the major items considered by the General Assembly was the report of the Strategic Planning Committee, which had been erected in 2000. It had been studying various aspects of the PCA and its report contained recommendations for the future health and growth of the denomination.

“If the PCA continues its current rate of growth, we’ll have more than one million members by 2028,” said Frank Brock, chairman of the Ad Interim on Strategic Planning Committee. “This is the right time to think strategically about the PCA’s future.”

All of the committee’s proposed changes were approved by the General Assembly. These changes, which take effect at the end of the 34th General Assembly, include:

Several modifications to the General Assembly’s Rules of Assembly Operations (RAO)—intended to reduce the amount of debate on the floor of the GA on parliamentary procedures allowing for a focus on debate on substantive issues.

An expanded Overtures Committee, which will include representatives from all 75 presbyteries. The hope is that this expanded committee will provide fuller participation by commissioners and promote deliberation within the body.

The creation of a new Cooperative Ministries Committee. This committee will be composed of representatives from the PCA’s various agencies and committees, and will encourage networking and cooperation among the various GA level ministries.
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Saturday, June 24, 2006

Ligon is on a much needed and deserved vacation tomorrow (Sunday) and yours truly is trying to fill his shoes for a day. What can you expect? A sermon about Hezekiah’s sickness in the morning—a disturbing story of a good man who got too big for his boots and presumed too much and paid the consequences. The story occurs twice 2 Chronicles 32 and Isaiah 37 (is the Holy Spirit telling us that it’s an important story. Well yes, but all Scripture is important! But when something is repeated like this we’re meant to take special note of it, I think). And in the evening, we’re continuing in Acts: Peter’s sermon giving an explanation for what they had just witnessed in the healing of the crippled man at the Beautiful Gate of the temple (Acts 3:11-26). It’s all about Jesus, and it always should be. I’d tell you more, but General Assembly consumed my prep time and so my Saturday is going to be spent filling out the details of these two glorious themes. And Ligon, if you’re reading this –have a well earned break this week and be assured of our prayers. And come back soon; we already miss you!

Thursday, June 22, 2006

It's 8am. Thursday morning. Dr. Guy Richard is on a huge screen. They're playing a video of post-Katrina disaster life on the Gulf Coast for PCA folk. Over $4 million dollars has been contributed showing the generosity of the PCA family.

I've already attended an RTS breakfast. These get bigger every year as more and more PCA/RTS graduates are added. Feel reassured of the value of seminary education to the life of the church. Ric Cannada did his usual superlative job. He is always so enthusiastic about RTS, even at 6am!

Ligon was in high profile yesterday getting some legislation through that will change the way the Assembly does its business, hopefully streamlining and ensuring that floor discussion is on central issues rather than parliamentary procedures. Sounds good if it works. Not sure Presbyterians can stay away from procedural issues for long, but feel encouraged that this is a step in the right direction.

Thought what it must be like to attend the Assemblies of the PCUSA or Episcopal Synodical meetings (do episcopalians have synodical meetings?). No gay bishops or lesbian clergy in sight here. Praise God.

Bills and Overtures come up this afternoon. Federal Vision is on the docket but doubt these will even get to the floor: it looks as though the overtures may be deemed out of order. There is technical jargon for this which I'm not sure I could relate. Am reassured that the denomination is firmly set against federal vision theology but we aren't clear how to deal with it--at least this year. At times like this I wish we were more episcopalian and we could simply issue a decree and have done with it!

Need to go...things are getting interesting again. More later
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Wednesday, June 21, 2006

The Presbyterian Church (USA) recently voted to allow alternative names for the Trinity. After all, many argued, the "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" contains sexist language. See article here.
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Monday, June 19, 2006

Ed and Emily Hartman richly blessed our congregation last night with an update on their ministry in Romania. Born in Romania, Ed immigrated with his family to the United States in 1966. He graduated from Columbia Bible College. He was ordained by the Mississippi Valley Presbytery after receiving his M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary. He later earned a D.Min. from Westminster Theological Seminary. For almost ten years, Ed served as senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Kosciusko, MS. For more on the Hartmans' work in Romania check out the MTW Romania page.Read more...

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Introduction (review):1. In Ephesians 4:17-5:4, Paul calls us to live like Christians, to live out the grace God has shown us, to enhance the unity of the body and to promote the glory of God, in six specific areas of the Christian life.2. What are the six specific areas that Paul addressed?(1) (in v. 25), Paul emphasizes that we are to promote the unity of the body of Christ and bear witness to the glory of God in the church through our truth-telling.(2) (in vv. 26-27), Paul stresses that the glory of God and the unity of his family are at stake in the way we manage and express our anger.(3) (in v. 28), Paul deals with the issue of stealing or dishonesty with other people’s goods and property – and it’s easy to see how that sin would disrupt the unity of the body and wound our witness to the world.(4) (in vv.29-30), Paul challenges corrupt communication by Christians, commands us to be edifying in our speech, and bids us to take care not to grieve the Holy Spirit with our unwholesome talk.(5) (in vv. 4:31-5:2), Paul charges us to put away attitudes words and actions that show resentment of God’s providence, and instead are to live lives of kindness and forgiveness, because of God’s kindness to and forgiveness of us. Indeed, we are to aim to be like God in our behavior, love like Christ loved us. In short, we are to confront our own bitterness and instead be characterized by a kind and forgiving spirit.(6) (in vv. 5:3-4), Paul explains that sexual immorality, impurity, coveting and vulgarity are all inconsistent with who we are, and the we should rather be thankful to God for the gift of sex than speak about it crudely or act immorally.3. By the way, one of the grand themes of Ephesians 4:17-5:4 is that the Christian life is not self-centered, but God-centered, church-centered, other-focused.4. Now Paul enters a section of the letter in which he supplies motivations for the living of the Christian life. He wants to arm us with arguments to use with ourselves in the fight against sin. This section comprises Ephesians 5:5-21. So even though, for instance, the theme of 5:3-4 is connected to the theme of 5:5-7, Paul’s focus is shifting to the issue of motivations, reasons, incentives. In this passage (Ephesians 5:5-21), Paul will provide at least four (4) motivations for the living of the Christian life.5. The first of those motivations is found in Ephesians 5:5-7, were Paul speaks of the certainty of coming divine judgment as a motivation to Christian behavior.

5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them;

6. Perhaps you’ve heard someone say that grateful response to God’s grace is the only proper motivation of the Christian life, and to be sure, grace is mingled with and underlies every other motivation in Christian experience, but the New Testament gives Christians many reasons, incentives, motivations to right living.For example:* In this very passage for instance Paul has already offered a motivation to avoid sexual immorality. It is the motivation of realizing that holiness and happiness, obedience and satisfaction go together and are inseparably related. How does he make this point? By offering thankfulness about sex as the alternative to sexual immorality and vulgarity, Paul is reminding us that godliness and joy, happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment, meaning go together.* Elsewhere (1 Cor 6:12-20) Paul gives a Trinitarian theology of the human body as motivation to sexual purity and fidelity. His argument? Our body is built by God the Father, belongs to Christ and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit.* Again, in Ephesians 5:3-4, Paul has reminded us that sexual immorality is inappropriate, not fitting, incongruous, contradictory of who we are.

Introduction:Motivations are important. Businesses work hard to give their employees motivation for productivity. God gives us manifold motivation for godliness in the Bible.

Here, in Ephesians 5:5-7, Paul sets forth the first of four motivations to godliness, and it may surprise you – it is the anticipation of judgment.

I. No unrepentant sexually immoral person has the rewards/blessings of the kingdom (5)[Whatever they claim, those who live an immoral life, show that they are not in the kingdom of grace]5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.* Every Christian knows what? – that no one who lives a life of unrepentant sexual immorality is a citizen of God’s kingdom, is a part of the true church, is a recipient of the gift of salvation.* What does this mean?1 Corinthians 6:9-10 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.Galatians 5:19-21 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.Colossians 3:5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.Revelation 21:8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."Revelation 22:15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.* What does this not mean? – it doesn’t mean we are saved by works, or by a combination of faith and faithfulness. Rather it means that justification and sanctification always come together. There is no one who is justified who is not being sanctified. The set of permanently unrepentant sexually immoral Christian people is empty!– Note: in the end, it is not even the specific sin, but the unrepentance, that assures final judgment.

II. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise (6)[The wrath of God to come has always been popular to deny]6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.*religious voices denying judgment*Be ready for people to try to tell you otherwise*Be assured, however, that . . .

III. Don’t find yourself under God’s searching, condemning judgment with them (7)[It is absolutely certain that immorality will be weighed in God’s balances and found lacking]7 Therefore do not be partakers with them;*Does not mean "don’t associate in any way or have any contact with them" – rather partnering and partaking with them is condemned.*If you partake, you will partake! If you partake with them in their sin, you will partake with them in judgment.*Interestingly, only the person who has know grace can/will rightly respond to this message and motivation regarding the judgment.*Challenge: live in light of your obituary, think about your death, what will have mattered
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Saturday, June 17, 2006

Whereas married fathers are more likely to have a close, enduring relationship with their children than unmarried fathers;

Whereas according to a 1996 Gallup poll, 90.3 percent of Americans agree that fathers make a unique contribution to their children's lives;

Whereas in a study of fathers' interaction with their children in intact two-parent families, nearly 90 percent of the fathers surveyed said that being a father is the most fulfilling role a man can have;

Whereas a broad array of the Nation's leading family and child development experts agree that it is in the best interests of children and the Nation as a whole to encourage more two-parent families where the father is actively involved with his children;

Whereas promoting responsible fatherhood can help increase the chances that children will grow up with two caring parents;

Whereas children with fathers at home tend to do better in school, to be less prone to emotional and behavioral problems, and to have more successful relationships;

Whereas boys and girls alike demonstrate greater self-control and ability to take initiative when fathers are actively involved in their upbringing;

Whereas children who are apart from their biological fathers are, in comparison to other children, 5 times more likely to live in poverty, and more likely to bring weapons and drugs into the classroom, commit other crimes, drop out of school, commit suicide, abuse alcohol or drugs, or become pregnant as teenagers;

Whereas the promotion of responsible fatherhood should not denigrate the standing or parenting efforts of single mothers, whose efforts are heroic, lessen the protection of children from abusive parents, cause women to remain in, or enter into, abusive relationships, or compromise the health or safety of a custodial parent; and

Whereas Father's Day is the third Sunday in June:Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) commends the millions of fathers who serve as wonderful, caring parents for their children;(2) calls on fathers across the Nation to use Father's Day to reconnect and rededicate themselves to their children's lives, to spend Father's Day with their children, and to express their love and support for their children;(3) urges men to understand the level of responsibility fathering a child requires, especially in the encouragement of the moral, academic, and spiritual development of children; and(4) encourages active involvement of fathers in the rearing and development of their children, including the devotion of time, energy, and resources.
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Friday, June 16, 2006

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council has these words to say on Fathers and Father's Day:

Fathers are not optional accessories for children - they are an essential part to raising the next generation. I am so grateful that I had a father who remains involved in my life to this very day. He is a blessing. Unfortunately, not every child has a father present in his or her life who loves them and cares for them. Some have fathers that are present, but not involved. Others are simply not there. Those mothers raising their kids alone deserve our gratitude and our help. Raising kids is a difficult proposition. This Father's Day Weekend I want to challenge all of us as fathers to recommit ourselves to our children - they need us. And moms and children - let your dads know that you love them. It's ok to tell the big guy you love him! By-the-way, there are many resolutions that come out of Congress, many of them borderline meaningless. But the House passed a good one this week to commemorate Father's Day. I encourage you to take a look at it. It was so good that it passed overwhelmingly (407 yeas, 8 present, 17 not voting). I cannot resist pointing out that the eight members who voted only "present", neither "for" nor "against," were all liberals.
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Thursday, June 15, 2006

Fasinating isn't it? The more we have, the less we tend to give (at least the less of a percentage of our income).

According to a George Barna (http://barna.org/) survey in 2000, the more money a family makes, the less likely they are to tithe. Eight percent of people making under $20,000 actually tithe. That number goes down to 5 percent for those families making $20,000 to $39,999. The number drops again to 4 percent for those making $40,000 to $59,999. Then the number drops to 2 percent for those making $60,000 to $74,999, and 1 percent for those making $75,000 to $99,999.The number jumps back up to 5 percent for those making above $100,000.
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So wrote Frances Cecil Alexander in a beautiful, and justly famous hymn, "There is a green hill far away." It brings to the surface something that is dear to us, the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. He died "for me." He have his life "for me".

It thrills our souls to think of it, even though we may not fully understand it. It is interesting to think of the trajectory of this thought through the Scriptures. Paul, for example, tells us in Romans 8;32 and God "did not spare his own Son" at Calvary. The apostle may well have been thinking of the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah when, in the Greek translation of the text (the Septuagint, the Bible version Paul read, if you like) we read Abraham was willing not to spare Isaac! God spared Abraham's son but not his own!

It is also interesting to recall how the Gospel writers record Jesus cry of dereliction on the Cross when he uttered the words, "My God, why have you forsaken me" having earlier cried in Gethsemane, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." God did not spare Jesus! And why not?

So that our sins might be atoned for!

And atoned for they are!

Everyone who trust in Christ alone for salvation may be assured that full and complete atonement has been won for us:

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Our Pastoral Care Intern, Jody Woodward, has received a call as Pastor of the Raymond Presbyterian Church, in Raymond, MS. Congratulations, Jody and Laurie! Last night, our presbytery credentials committee approved Jody to go before Presbytery on August 1 for examination. The Credentials Committee has voted to allow Jody to preach at Raymond beginning in July, so he willing be leaving us at the end of June. We're proud of you Jody. Way to go.
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From Lecture Four: "Charity Disposes Us Meekly To Bear The Injuries Received From Others"

The spirit of Christian long-suffering and meekness is commended to us by the example of the saints. The example of Christ alone might be, and is sufficient; since it is the example of him who is our head, and Lord and master, whose followers we profess to be, and whose example we believe to be perfect. And yet some may be ready to say, with regard to the example of Christ, that he was sinless, and had no corruption in his heart, and that it cannot be expected of us that we should do in all things as he did. Now, though this is no reasonable objection, yet the example of saints, who were men of like passions with ourselves, is not without its special use, and may in some respects have a peculiar influence. Many of the saints have set bright examples of this long-suffering that has been recommended.

With what meekness, for instance, did David bear the injurious treatment that he received from Saul, when he was hunted by him as a partridge on the mountains, and pursued with the most unreasonable envy and malice, and with murderous designs, though he had ever behaved himself dutifully toward him. And when he had the opportunity put into his hands of cutting him off, and at once delivering himself from his power, and others around him were ready to think it very lawful and commendable to do so, yet as Saul was the Lord’s anointed, he chose rather to commit himself and all his interests to God, and venture his life in his hands, and suffer his enemy still to live. And when, after this, he saw that his forbearance and goodness did not overcome Saul, but that he still pursued him, and when again he had the opportunity of destroying him, he chose rather to go out as a wanderer and an outcast, than to injure the one that would have destroyed him.

Another instance is that of Stephen, of whom we are told (Acts 7:59, 60), that, when his persecutors were venting their rage upon him by stoning him to death, “he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” This prayer is mentioned as that which he made with his expiring breath, and as the last words that he uttered after praying the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit; and immediately after making this prayer for his persecutors, we are told that he fell asleep, thus forgiving them and commending them to God’s blessing as the last act of his life on earth. Another example is that of the apostle Paul, who was the subject of numberless injuries from wicked and unreasonable men. Of these injuries, and his manner of behavior under them, he gives us some account in 1 Cor. 4:11-13 — “Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; and labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.”

Thus he manifested a meek and long-suffering spirit under all the injuries that were heaped upon him. And not only do we have these records respecting inspired men; but we have accounts in uninspired and mere human histories, of the remarkable heroism and long-suffering of martyrs and other Christians, under the most unreasonable and wicked treatment and injuries received from men: all of which should lead us to the same meek and long-suffering spirit.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

True, there are hotter places in the world, but I have no desire to experience them. My British cells were not prepared for life in a sauna (I never did understand the pleasure of saunas!).

Stay with me as I suggest that it isn't as "hot as hell"!

Shocking?

Yes, but the expression arose because of biblical imagery that suggests to us that hell is a place where "eternal fire" (Matt. 25:41).

Whatever became of hell? We are adept at obliterating it from our minds altogether or making light of it. Thoughts of redneck fundamentalists and backwood preachers come to mind. It simply isn't good manners to talk of "fire and brimstone." We want to talk about "The Christian approach to Hollywood" or "Christians and leisure" rather than "The Bible's View of Eternal punishment." We certainly dismiss as morbid and bad taste the view of Tertullian and Aquinas and Jonathan Edwards who argued that the saints in heaven find the sufferings of sinners a hell a joyful matter.

It is Jesus who speaks about hell in the New Testament more than any other. He spoke about gehenna, the Greek form of Ge Hinnom, "Valley of Hinnom." This was the area outside the walls of Jerusalem where children had once been sacrificed to Molech (2 Chron. 28:3; 33:6) and in Jesus' day was where the city's refuse was incinerated. Smoke arose from the place on most days.

How often have I heard people say: "I don't hold to all the Bible teaches but I do like the Sermon on the Mount." This piffling prejudice explodes in their faces because in the Sermon Jesus talks about 'hell" saying that anyone who calls his brother a "fool" is in danger of "the fire of hell" (literally, "the Gehenna of fire") (Matt. 5:22).

The "fire", the heat, is metaphor, of course. What is in view is something unimaginably dreadful, too dreadful to think about. But think about it we must, with seriousness and godly fear, one the one hand giving thanks to God for deliverance from the fire through the finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf (who experienced the fire for us at Calvary), and on the other hand, evangelistic concern for the lost that we might, by God's grace, effectively witness the love of God that desires the salvation of men and women and thereby "snatch (them) from the fire" (Jude 23).

"Lord, help us today to seriously contemplate the reality of hell; to give you thanks that in Jesus Christ we are delivered from it; to warn those in danger of it--with winsomeness--to repent and believe. Amen."
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Monday, June 12, 2006

Many faithful, hard-working church staff members and parents have conquered VBS, the Great Game (Baseball) will soon be the only sport in town (Go Red Sox!), a cloud of humidity has settled on the southern states, stuffed minivans make their way to pools and beaches, and the hurricane season is just around the corner--a sobering reminder of our fragility.

The is the right moment to consider "Time."

A special thanks to Sean Michael Lucas for pointing me to this one:

"The understanding and honoring of time is fundamental to the realization of who we are and how we live. Violations of sacred time become desecrations of our most intimate relations with God and one another. Hours and days, weeks and months and years, are the very stuff of holiness."

"

Among the many desecrations visited upon the creation, the profanation of time ranks near the top, at least among North Americans. Time is the medium in which we do all our living. When time is desecrated, life is desecrated. The most conspicuous evidences of this desecration are hurry and procastination: hurry turns away from the gift of time in a compulsive grasping for abstractions that it can possess and control. Procrastination is distracted from the gift of time in a lazy inattenativeness to the life of obedience and adoration by which we enter the 'fullness of time.' Whether by a hurried grasping or by a procrastinating inattention, time is violated."

Sunday, June 11, 2006

1. In the previous section of Ephesians (4:17-5:4), Paul is calling us to live like Christians, to live out grace, to enhance the unity of the body and to promote the glory of God, in six specific areas of the Christian life.

2. We saw there that Paul specifically addressed six significant areas of Christian life: (1) in v. 25, he emphasized that we were to promote the unity of the body of Christ and bear witness to the glory of God in the church through our truth-telling; (2) in vv. 26-27 he emphasized that the glory of God and the unity of his family are at stake in the way we manage and express or anger; (3) in v. 28 Paul deals with stealing or honesty; (4) in vv.29-30 Paul challenges corrupt communication by Christians, commands us to be edifying in our speech, and bids us to take care not to grieve the Holy Spirit with our unwholesome talk; (5) in vv. 4:31-5:2 Paul charges us to put away attitudes words and actions that show resentment of God’s providence, and instead are to live lives of kindness and forgiveness, because of God’s kindness to and forgiveness of us. Indeed, we are to aim to be like God in our behavior, love like Christ loved us. In short, we are to confront our own bitterness and instead be characterized by a kind and forgiving spirit; (6) in vv. 5:3-4 Paul explains that sexual immorality, impurity, coveting and vulgarity are all inconsistent with who we are, and that we should rather be thankful to God for the gift of sex than speak about it crudely or act immorally.

3. One of the grand themes in Ephesians 4:17-5:4 is that the Christian life is not self-centered, but God-centered, church-centered, other-focused.

4. Now Paul enters a section in which he supplies motivations for the living of the Christian life. He wants to arm us with arguments to use with ourselves in the fight against sin. This section comprises Ephesians 5:5-21.

5. Today Paul, in Ephesians 5:5-7, Paul speaks of the certainty of coming divine judgment as a motivation to Christian behavior.

5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them;

The New Testament gives Christians many reasons, incentives, motivations to right living, to our avoidance of sexual immorality

I. No unrepentant sexually immoral person has the rewards/blessings of the kingdom (5)[Whatever they claim, those who live an immoral life, show that they are not in the kingdom of grace]5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

II. Don’t let anyone tell you _________ (6)[The _____ of God to come has always been popular to deny]6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience

III. Don’t find yourself under God’s searching, __________ __________ with them (7)[It is absolutely certain that __________ will be weighed in God’s balances and found lacking]7 Therefore do not be partakers with them;
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Friday, June 09, 2006

The picture to the right is that of First Presbyterian Church, Gulfport, now looking decidedly worn a year after the Katrina hurricane tore into its lower section. As I took this picture (a week ago) it served, I thought as a parable of the church as a whole. Every day, new strains of the enemy's attack seem more and more evident. Each news bulletin seems to bring with it fresh evidence of Satan's desire to destroy the purposes of God in building his church "within sight of the gates of hell" (Matthew 16:16ff). But we have a promise given to us by the King of Kings: Satan will not be victorious!

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun

Does his successive journeys run;

His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,

Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

(Isaac Watts)

(Apologies for no post yesterday--I think I crashed the entire system)

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

"Rest, then, on nothing that you have done or suffered, or that you can do or suffer, but rest on Christ."

Jonathan Edwards

"And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing" (1 Cor. 13:3, NASB).

From Lecture Three: "The Greatest Performances or Sufferings in Vain Without Charity."

"But doings or sufferings will not avail. They will not atone for your sins, or give you God’s favor, or save you from the overwhelming storms of his wrath. Rest, then, on nothing that you have done or suffered, or that you can do or suffer, but rest on Christ. Let your heart be filled with sincere love to him; and then, at the last great day, he will own you as his follower and as his friend."

Edwards calls upon all Christians "earnestly to cherish sincere Christian love in their hearts." He continues, "If it be so, that this is of such great and absolutes necessity, then let it be the one great thing that you seek. Seek it with diligence and prayer, and seek it of God, and not of yourself. He only can bestow it. It is something far above the unassisted power of nature. For though there may be great performances, and great sufferings too, yet without sincere love they are all in vain. Such doings and sufferings may indeed be required of us, as the followers of Christ, and in the way of duty. But we are not to rest in them, or feel that they have any merit or worthiness in themselves. At best they are but the outward evidence and the outflowing of a right spirit in the heart. Be exhorted, then, as the great thing, to cherish sincere love, or Christian charity, in the heart. It is that which you must have; and there is nothing that will help your case without it."
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Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Thought you'd like a photograph of Joe Holland at his installation service as Assistant Minister at the PCA church in Kosciusko last Sunday evening. Yours truly gave the charge to Joe--not $25 as I was tempted, but a reminder of the solemn charge given to Dr James Henley Thornwell and Rev F Mullally in May, 1860 at First Presbyterian Church, Columbia. Ligon gave a wonderful 5-point charge to the congregation based on Ephesians 6 (you'll be getting it soon I'm sure in another form when we are done with Ephesians 5! It's another scorcher!). Our own Bebo Elkin also took part, leading us in prayer.

We passed on your regards and wished Joe and Hallie God's blessing on their new sphere of ministry in Kosciusko. Joe, we'll miss you!

And you should have told me that there are so many family connections with First Pres. Jackson before I started saying all things about you folks in Jackson!

"God is seeking your love, and you are under unspeakable obligation to render it."Jonathan Edwards

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing" (1 Cor. 13:1-2, NASB).

From Lecture Two: "Charity More Excellent Than The Extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit.""What could God have done more for you than he has done? What privilege could he have bestowed, better in itself, or more worthy to engage your heart in thankfulness? And consider how you are living — how little you have done for him — how much you do for self — how little this divine love hath wrought in your heart to incline you to live for God and Christ, and for the extension of his kingdom. Oh, how should such as you, show your sense of your high privileges, by the exercises of love! Love that is manifest toward God in obedience, submission, reverence, cheerfulness, joy, and hope; and toward your neighbor, in meekness, sympathy, humility, charitableness, and doing good to all as you have opportunity."

"God is seeking your love, and you are under unspeakable obligation to render it. The Spirit of God has been poured out wonderfully here. Multitudes have been converted. Scarcely a family has been passed by. In almost every household some have been made nobles, kings, and priests unto God, sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty! What manner of persons, then, ought all of us to be! How holy, serious, just, humble, charitable, devoted in God’s service, and faithful to our fellowmen! As individuals and as a people, God has most richly blessed us, and as both individuals and a people, it becomes us to be a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, showing forth the praises of him that hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. "
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Sunday, June 04, 2006

Introduction (review):1. In this whole section of Ephesians (4:17-32), Paul is calling us to live like Christians, to live out grace, to enhance the unity of the body and to promote the glory of God, in six specific areas of the Christian life.

2. So far, Paul has specifically addressed five areas of Christian life: (1) in v. 25, he emphasized that we were to promote the unity of the body of Christ and bear witness to the glory of God in the church through our truth-telling; (2) in vv. 26-27 he emphasized that the glory of God and the unity of his family are at stake in the way we manage and express or anger;(3) in v. 28-29 Paul deals with stealing; (4) in vv.29-30 Paul challenges corrupt communication by Christians, commands us to be edifying in our speech, and bids us to take care not to grieve the Holy Spirit with our unwholesome talk; and (5) in vv. 4:31-5:2 Paul charges us to put away attitudes words and actions that show resentment of God’s providence, and instead are to live lives of kindness and forgiveness, because of God’s kindness to and forgiveness of us. Indeed, we are to aim to be like God in our behavior, love like Christ loved us. In short, we are to confront our own bitterness and instead be characterized by a kind and forgiving spirit.

3. This brings us to Paul’s sixth life example and application of how we are to live distinctively as Christians, it appears in Ephesians 5:3-4.

3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Introduction:Throughout the passage, Paul is concerned that we are not self-centered, but rather God-centered, church-centered, other-focused.

I. Christian behavior is not to be characterized by sexual immorality, impurity and coveting (3a) [Sexual immorality]3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, . . .

II. Christian conversation is not to be vulgar (4a) [Coarse talk]. . . 4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, . . .

III. Christian behavior and conversation is to be informed by what is fitting for Christians (3b, 4b) [Fitting/not fitting]3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, . . .

IV. Christians, instead of being sexually immoral and vulgar, are to give thanks to God for sex (4c) [Giving thanks]3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
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Saturday, June 03, 2006

Noticed this on my visit to the Gulf last weekend! Reminded me of a verse of Scripture:

"After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old"

(Acts 15:16-18 citing from Amos 9 about the gathering of the gentiles into the kingdom in new covenant days)

Congratulations to Dr. Guy Richard on passing his viva. It is now official!

Thursday, June 01, 2006

I have been reading the sports pages! I know, wonders never cease! Actually, it was the headline that caught my eye: "'God has definitely a hand in the Rockies rise,' team manager says."

The man in question appears to be Dan O'Dowd, the team manager of the Rockies.

Now, that's about all I know of the Rockies, but the article (USA Today, May 31 2006) makes for fascinating reading. Apparently, Playboy magazine is banned from the Rockies' locker room--part of the basis, it seems, for the opinion that this is a more Christian baseball team.

I'm not questioning whether some of the team members are genuine believers, but allow me a moment to ask: Is God really interested in baseball? Is the fact that the Cubs have consistently done so poorly for the best part of a century mean that God put a hex on the team (something about a billy-goat and a curse pronounced by a William Sianis when told he and his goat had to leave)? And the fact the Red Sox won the World series in 2004, does this mean that a similar curse on them had now been lifted? Certainly, it's the folklore in the Windy City, and billboards still play on the curse theme.

It's useful (and superstitious) to blame bad players and bad management on a shaman-pronounced curse on people, singularly or collectively. And, to put it the other way around, it's equally superstitious to think that good things (more money, better jobs, my team winning) is an indication that God has pronounced a blessing. Does this mean that God is happy with (as I read in this article) a player making $22 million a year?

That the relative outcome of a baseball team is part of God's decree, his sovereign control in providence of everything that happens, is beyond question. But to suggest that the fortunes of a baseball team are indicative of answered prayer is, well, a stretch to say the least. Mounting a biblical argument that it really is God's will for this team or that to win would be a difficult thing to do; but you're welcome to try.

And, if you were wondering about the Cubs-Reds game we attended? The Cubs lost!